Skip to main content

International Safer Roads Conference focus on highway maintenance funding

UK road planners and engineers attending next month’s International Safer Roads Conference will find out how to avoid losing part of their highway maintenance funding from the British Government. In the Department of Transport document, ‘Gearing up for efficient highway delivery and funding’, Robert Goodwill, MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, warns that local authorities will be incentivised to take up asset management to make the most from allocated resources.
April 30, 2014 Read time: 3 mins
UK road planUK road planners and engineers attending next month’s International Safer Roads Conference will find out how to avoid losing part of their highway maintenance funding from the British Government.

In the Department of Transport document, ‘Gearing up for efficient highway delivery and funding’, Robert Goodwill, MP, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Transport, warns that local authorities will be incentivised to take up asset management to make the most from allocated resources.

It is proposed that every highway authority will receive baseline funding, with additional funds, as much as 10%, for those with an asset management strategy in place.

The Roads Minister will be addressing the Conference, which is being held in Cheltenham, western England, from the 18 – 21 May 2014. UK delegates will be able to share best practice to help prepare a strategy to avoid losing any vital funding.
The underlying theme of the Conference is ‘saving lives through safer roads’ and delegates are travelling from around the world to share their experience and knowledge.

Dr Chris Kennedy, chairman of the organising committee, says they will be discussing the ever-changing issues of climate change and increasing traffic flows, as well as how types of vehicles place more pressure on existing materials and practices.

“The papers being presented also look at how to achieve more for less in what are challenging times”, he explained.

The 4th International Safer Roads Conference is co-sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Highways and Transportation, 1009 New Zealand Transport Agency and 3312 WDM Limited. Delegates will consist of engineers, practitioners, policy makers and other professionals from central and local governments, academics from universities and research organisations, consultants and contractors.

Dr Kennedy says the Conference will help encourage authorities to become more innovative to achieve best value in road and runway safety maintenance and practices.

“Studies have shown that driver behaviour can be linked with the road environment to produce innovative ways to reduce accident rates and these changes also need to use the appropriate surface materials.

“Many countries have been showing reductions in headline numbers of killed and seriously injured, but as the opening keynote speaker from the Dutch Institute of Road Safety will be discussing, these headline figures often fail to show that the number of vulnerable users continues to rise,” he said. “No country can afford to be complacent about its road safety record.”

Full details of the Conference can be found on %$Linker: 2 External <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-16"?><dictionary /> 0 0 0 oLinkExternal www.saferroads.org.uk Visite Safe Roads website false http://www.saferroads.org.uk/ false false%>

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Webinar - Powering ITS anywhere, anytime with solar energy solutions
    December 8, 2016
    SES America (SESA) is hosting a webinar on 15 December, dedicated to solar ITS solutions, from 1300-1400 ET, 1000-11000 PT. The webinar, Powering ITS anywhere, anytime with solar energy solutions, will discuss the seven myths about solar-powered DMS (dynamic message signs) and why the rise of solar power has paved a way for ITS. It will also discuss how to calculate an optimised solar ITS system. More information and details of how to join the webinar are on SESA’s website.
  • Tackling winter maintenance
    May 8, 2012
    Winter weather often brings traffic chaos, and authorities have to be ready to tackle it as Patrick Smith reports. Good winter maintenance is rarely noticed, and it is only when things go wrong that it becomes a public issue. "When sudden bouts of cold weather bring traffic chaos, icy roads receive high-profile coverage and local authorities are criticised, often unfairly, for not affording greater protection," says the Highways Term Maintenance Association (HTMA), the UK's top trade body for road mainten
  • Revamped asphalt maintenance trailer makes for faster repairs
    March 7, 2014
    Heating Design Equipment (HDE) was displaying updated versions of two of its successful products at Conexpo: the HDE 750 2TMT asphalt maintenance trailer and the HDE JMH 500-PA asphalt joint heater. The asphalt maintenance trailer heats up and softens an area of asphalt, allowing it to be reworked and repaired. According to HDE, the infrared heaters can soften the top 60mm of asphalt to the original mixing temperatures in between five and 10 minutes.
  • Artists help IPAF tell INTERMAT 2012 visitors to ‘spread the load’
    January 6, 2017
    The International Powered Access Federation (IPAF) has hit upon a colourful way of telling show visitors about its key safety message.